Salvatore Maranzano
Salvatore Maranzano (31 July 1886-10 September 1931) was the boss of the Maranzano crime family (the future Bonanno crime family) from 1930 to 1931, succeeding Nicolo Schiro and preceding Joseph Bonanno. Maranzano was a powerful American Mafia boss in New York City, and he became the Capo di tutti cappi ("boss of bosses" of the Mafia) after defeating and killing Joe Masseria during the Castellammarese War. However, he would reign for just nine months, and he was murdered by his own men in 1931, wiping out the old order of the Mafia. Biography Salvatore Maranzano was born on 31 July 1886 in Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, Italy, and he studied to become a Catholic priest before becoming interested in the Sicilian Mafia. Maranzano became a mobster at home, and he developed a fascination with Julius Caesar and the Roman Empire, earning him the nickname "Little Caesar". Maranzano emigrated to the United States shortly after World War I, and he became a real estate broker as well as a Prohibition bootlegger in his new hometown of New York City, New York, using Brooklyn as his base. Later, Maranzano would become involved in the heroin trade and prostitution, and he made Joseph Bonanno his underboss. Castellammarese War ]]In 1929, an emboldened Maranzano decided to seize power from Joe Masseria, causing the Castellammarese War to break out between the two mob bosses. Maranzano's family, which included Bonanno, Stefano Magaddino, Joseph Profaci, Gaetano Reina, Tommy Gagliano, and Tommy Lucchese, succeeded in killing several high-ranking leaders from the Masseria crime family's upper echelon, and Masseria was murdered by his own right-hand man, Lucky Luciano, on 15 April 1931. Maranzano gave Luciano all of Masseria's rackets and allowed for him to become the new boss of his own family, the future Genovese crime family. Maranzano hailed him as a hero, and he told all of his fellow mob bosses that they would become rich. Maranzano was responsible for the creation of the "Five Families" of New York organized crime, dividing New York's organized crime into families run by Profaci, Lucchese, Luciano, Frank Scalice, and himself. Maranzano also expressed interest in meeting with Atlantic City political boss and rum importer Enoch Thompson, meeting him at a New York restaurant to discuss an assassination attempt made on Thompson in Havana, Cuba by an associate of Luciano's friend Meyer Lansky. Maranzano assured Thompson that he was not involved, and Thompson was informed by Tonino Sandrelli that Lansky and Luciano behind the attack, not Maranzano. Maranzano advised Thompson to approach the matter peacefully, and he was unable to prevent a war between Lansky and Luciano and Thompson. Downfall Luciano and Thompson held a peace meeting near Atlantic City and agreed that the two sides would disengage in return for Thompson giving the city to the Genovese crime family and for Thompson having Maranzano murdered the next day. On 10 September 1931, several men posing as federal agents entered Maranzano's office under the pretense of serving him a subpoena, but they proceeded to stab him several times. Maranzano fell to the floor, mortally wounded, and Eli Thompson shot him in the forehead, killing him. Maranzano's death led to the eradication of the "Mustache Petes" and the fall of old-fashioned Sicilian crime in America. Category:1886 births Category:1931 deaths Category:Italian-Americans Category:Italians Category:Americans Category:Catholics Category:Criminals Category:Crime bosses Category:Maranzano crime family Category:Killed Category:Mafiosi Category:Italian emigrants to America Category:People from New York Category:People from New York City